The resurgent Delhi Daredevils, who have chased down targets of 186 and 206 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions respectively in their last two matches after a disastrous start to the tournament fuelled, ironically, by a failing batting, will look to continue their winning spree against better performing teams here at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi. Mumbai Indians, who are the top ranked team in the tournament right now, are coming off a four day break after a last over victory against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and will be extremely wary of the new-found form of the Delhi team. The Mumbai side are first team to qualify for the playoffs, and they will not feel the pinch of pressure that Delhi will face today. Delhi are a dismal sixth with eight points from ten games, and have to win all of their remaining matches, and hope the other teams (including last night victors Kings XI Punjab) do not do so well if they are to qualify for the playoffs.
For DD, Sanju Samson has been consistent – even if he has been guilty of not converting the starts into big scores, while young Rishabh Pant showcased his enormous talent in the previous match against the Gujarat Lions. The spotlight will be on the two young lads, and DD fans will hope they can carry their form into this important match.
Rohit Sharma’s 56 in the last match against the RCB was another reminder of how the Mumbai captain is their key man. On the other hand, the other Mumbai lad – Nitish Rana – hasn’t made many runs since the sweet spot he hit in the beginning of the tournament. The team management will hope he finds his mojo soon enough, as he bats at a key position and can contribute enormously in both setting high scores and chasing down big targets.
On the bowling front, pacer Mitchell McClenaghan is Mumbai’s highest wicket-taker with 15 so far while Harbhajan Singh has been their most frugal bowler with the economy rate of 5.86. On the other hand, there has been no word on the fitness of Delhi skipper Zaheer Khan yet, who has been out to a hamstring injury, but Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and all rounders Corey Anderson and Chris Morris are expected to provide the firepower in Delhi’s bowling in the skipper’s absence.
When
06 May 2017, 2000 Hrs IST
Where
Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi
Head to Head
Overall: Matches played – 19, Delhi Daredevils Won – 9, Mumbai Indians Won – 10
Squads:
Delhi Daredevils: Karun Nair (capt), Angelo Mathews, Corey Anderson, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins, Ankit Bawne, Aditya Tare, Murugan Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Shashank Singh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Rishabh Pant, Chama Milind, Khaleel Ahmed, Pratyush Singh, Marlon Samuels.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Lendl Simmons, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nitish Rana, Parthiv Patel, Saurabh Tiwary, Shreyas Gopal, Tim Southee, Lasith Malinga, Krunal Pandya, Keiron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Asela Gunaratne, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Jagdish Suchith, Jasprit Bumrah, Jos Buttler, Karn Sharma, Vinay Kumar
Predictions:
- In the last match, the MI side was restricted to a paltry 142-8 at the Wankhede, but the MI bowlers pulled off a special, reducing the visiting side to 24 for 6 at one point. Rabada and Morris led a fightback, but they could take DD to only 128-7. Expect the DD batsmen’e susceptibility to Mumbai bowlers to be a big factor today.
- Lasith Malinga has played 11 IPL matches against the Delhi Daredevils, and he has never returned wicket-less; in the 11 matches, he has picked up a total of 19 wickets and has an economy rate of 6.61. Expect him to be a big weapon today, even though he hasn’t done exceptionally this tournament.
- Rohit Sharma against Amit Mishra is a contest that promises to be exciting. The pair have come up against each other on numerous occasions, and the DD leg-spinner has the bragging rights, having dismissed the MI captain on 5 occasions. Rohit Sharma has scored 75 runs off 81 balls Mishra has bowled to him in the IPL.
